Willard Trowbridge Snow (1811-1853)
}} Biography Zions Camp Participant One of the most interesting episodes in the early history of LDS Church was the march of Zion's Camp (1834). The members of the Church in Missouri were being persecuted, and the Prophet Joseph made it a matter of prayer and received a revelation on February 24, 1834. The Lord instructed the Prophet to assemble at least one hundred young and middle-aged men and to go to the land of Zion, or Missouri. (See D&C 130:19–34.) Zion’s Camp, a group of approximately one hundred and fifty men, gathered at Kirtland, Ohio, in the spring of 1834 and marched to Jackson County, Missouri. By the time they reached Missouri, the camp had increased to approximately two hundred men. Willard served in Zions Camp with his brother Zerubabbel and sister Mary Minerva Snow (1813-1891). First Overseas Mission Death n 1852, while Willard was in Denmark, serving as the Mission President, he was mobbed and treated with contempt and was driven into the swamp where he contracted malaria or swamp fever. This fever was eventually what would take his life. While addressing a council of Elders on the evening of August 15, 1853 in Copenhagen, he was so violently attacked with an illness that he was unable to proceed. Later he seemed a little better, and decided to go to England for treatment of his illness. On the 18th of 1853, he took passage on board the ship "Transit," but while on board he was again prostrated. He soon became unconscious, and continued to sink, gradually until the evening of the 21st, when he expired. Elder P.O. Hansen and H.P. Jenson were with him, but not withstanding their earnest pleading, the captain insisted that the body be sunk in the sea. So he was wrapped in canvas and sunk about 80 miles north of Hull, England in the North Sea. He was just 41 years of age. Willard Trowbridge Snow was the first American Elder to die abroad while on his mission. Joseph Smith Papers From Joseph Smith Papers Project(numbers following line refer to source cited. #6 May 1811–21 Aug. 1853. # Farmer.3 # Born in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.4 # Lived at Waterford, Caledonia Co., by 1820.5 # Son of Levi Snow and Lucina Streeter.6 # Baptized into LDS church by Orson Pratt, 18 June 1833.7 # Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1834.8 # Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834.9 # Ordained member of first Quorum of the Seventy, 28 Feb. 1835, in Kirtland.10 # Moved to Caldwell Co., Missouri, fall 1836.11 # Married Melvina Harvey, 14 May 1837.12 # One of the seventies called to accompany apostles to Europe, 6 May 1839.13 # Elected member of high council in Iowa Territory, 5 Oct. 1839.14 # Left Caldwell Co., Missouri, winter 1839.15 # Lived at Lee Co., Iowa Territory, 1840.16 # Member of Nauvoo Legion.17 # Served mission to Indiana to raise funds for Nauvoo temple, 1845.18 # Captain of Fifty in Jedediah M. Grant and Willard Snow pioneer company; left from Elkhorn River, near Winter Quarters, unorganized U.S. # territory (later in Omaha, Douglas Co., Nebraska), 19 June 1847, and arrived in Salt Lake Valley, 4 Oct. 1847.19 # Appointed member of high council of Salt Lake stake, Oct. 1848, in Salt Lake City.20 # Appointed counselor to stake president, 12 Feb. 1849, in Salt Lake City.21 # Elected to Utah territorial Legislative Assembly, 6 Aug. 1851; resigned 24 Sept. 1851.22 # Appointed to serve mission to England, 7 Sept. 1851.23 # Presided over Scandinavian mission, 1852–1853.24 # Died at sea en route from Denmark to Liverpool, Lancashire, England References * #44782490 * Willard Trowbridge Snow - JosephSmithPapers.org Vital Records Category:Veteran of Zions Camp Category:Died at Sea Category:American missionaries